Peterborough United owner Darragh MacAnthony has jumped to the defence of star man Marcus Maddison after fans messaged him on Saturday night to inform him his highly-rated schemer was enjoying a night out.
Maddison’s festivities came after he produced a stellar performance as Posh beat promotion rivals Sunderland 3-0 at London Road. The twenty-five-year-old scored twice against the Wearsiders, a club he’s been heavily linked with a potential move to this summer, including a stunning free-kick in the first half to open the scoring.
Indeed, Maddison remains hot property after a fantastic start to the season in which he’s scored three goals and racked-up a further six assists.
It appears from exchanges with supporters on Twitter, MacAnthony is more than happy for his talisman to enjoy a night out if he maintains the level of performance which threatens to help Peterborough make a concerted push for automatic League One promotion.
https://twitter.com/DMAC102/status/1168532994140844032?s=20
He referred to some supporters as ‘snitches’ and highlighted Maddison’s superb record at the club as evidence that the odd night out does not harm a young footballers career. He even offered to pay the talented player’s bar bill.
https://twitter.com/DMAC102/status/1168534104993873928?s=20
In further exchanges with supporters, MacAnthony did make clear he was happy so long as performances weren’t affected and then revealed he’d told Maddison in the summer ‘go have (the) season of your life and write your own ticket’ if he helps Posh get promoted to the Championship this season.
https://twitter.com/DMAC102/status/1168537788876238849?s=20
Our View
Maddison is a young man currently on top of his game and MacAnthony is right to have his back.
However, if there is a lesson to be learnt, it is probably one of discretion or young Madison.
In the era of social media and camera phones, many fans no longer want to buy a player a drink but prefer to try and stitch them up when they see them out in public.
We then wonder why current players are so bland and guarded.
We also lament the lack of characters in the game and wonder where they have all gone.
Everyone deserves some downtime, even professional athletes and as long as it doesn’t become a habit, and performances aren’t affected, players should be allowed some sort of social life, if possible without intrusion from supporters.
